The US diplomatic cables published in December 2010 by WikiLeaks paint an often unflattering portrait of the country in which the site's founder, Julian Assange, is attempting to claim political asylum.

The diplomats' missives to the US secretary of state report on worsening situations around press freedom, judicial integrity, and corruption within the police.

According to a statement made by the Ecuadorian foreign ministry and tweets from its minister, Assange directed his plea for asylum personally to the Ecuadorian president, Rafael Correa, whom Assange met during an interview for Russia Today.

"In 2008, the government took management and editorial control of two national TV stations owned by the Isaias family," it said. "Over the past year the government has launched three 'public' media outlets that in theory report on citizens' business, but in practice mainly report favourably on government actions.

"The new constitution includes a number of provisions that make commercial media outlets vulnerable to government pressure.

"Taken together, President Correa's actions and the provisions of the new constitution present a serious challenge to Ecuadorian media and freedom of the press."

Further diplomatic cables detailed warnings from President Obama to Correa about his treatment of the press, subsequently publicly condemned by the Ecuadorian leader.

Elsewhere, the documents warned of weaknesses in Ecuador's judicial system. One cable on terrorism warned: "Ecuador's judicial institutions remained weak, susceptible to corruption, and heavily backlogged with pending cases."

Another cable, which prompted Ecuador to expel the US ambassador to the country, accused Ecuador's commander of police of using his position "to extort cash and property, misappropriate public funds, facilitate human trafficking, and obstruct the investigation and prosecution of corrupt colleagues", concluding that "corruption among Ecuadorian national police officers is widespread and well-known".

Assange cited a biased judicial process in Sweden, as well as ill-treatment by the country's media, as factors in his decision to apply for asylum in Ecuador.

"Without question there are GoE officials who do not want a close relationship with the US and are actively working to undermine relations. There are also many GoE officials who value the relationship and want to preserve and improve upon it.

"Correa himself, given his background, is likely conflicted. The balance of power shifts daily between these two groups, and our bilateral relationship is caught up in this power struggle."

A power struggle which, a mere two years on, now has the man behind the cable's publication at its heart.